Robots vs. machines: Identifying user perceptions and classifications

Ways in which people perceive machines as robots can influence their subsequent behavior and interactions. Individuals may make these classification decisions based solely on visual information, and thus the physical form of the entity alone. Participants viewed images of robots from a variety of identified domains and rated each image according to the extent to which they perceive the entity as a machine and the extent to which they viewed it as a robot. Findings suggest that images portraying greater anthropomorphic properties are classified as more robotic. Implications for robot design and trust are discussed.